PORUS, Manchester — There were dramatic scenes in St Toolies district near here Monday when relatives of one of three men killed by the police stormed out of a car protesting what the cops said was a shoot-out and double gun seizure.

Relatives identified the deceased men as 23-year-old Byron McDonald, otherwise called Gary; Teshan Porteus; and Rosheed Johnson.

The relatives told journalists that the three men had recently moved to St Toolies near the Manchester/Clarendon border after their homes were battered by Hurricane Melissa in Cotterwood, St Elizabeth, last October.

“The hurricane mash them up. They didn’t have anywhere to go and he [McDonald] came and lived with his uncle and he came here to come live. Why unuh nuh take him and carry him in? What kind of law is this? Me want justice for my pickney,” McDonald’s mother, Sheree Samuel, said while questioning the police’s version of events.

“How is shoot-out when is them go in the house go kill me pickney and put gun in the car?” she charged.

McDonald’s sister said she last spoke to her brother on Sunday, inviting him to have Sunday dinner with her in Clarendon. She said her brother was continuously targeted by the police.

“It is heartbreaking, it is too much. Him nuh do nutten… If they said something else I would understand but he is not a killer, so why kill him? Take him up and carry him go throw in a cell. We house mash down a St Elizabeth and him move come up here… to have little refuge with his friends,” she said.

“His pickney is on the way to be born in March… Police always after them, because you know how young boys dress a certain way — they bleach — so police are always going to target those types of people. If you target him [then just] say he is a scammer or whatever you want to call it, target him that way, but he is not a killer,” she added.

However, head of the Manchester police Superintendent Carey Duncan said the men were killed in an intelligence-led operation about 12:20 pm.

“The police, acting on information, came to this premises to execute a search warrant. On the approach of the police a group of men were seen exiting the building with firearms in hand. The police accosted the men, who engaged them in a shoot-out. The police advanced inside the building where they were again engaged by other men inside the premises. The police again returned the fire,” said Duncan

“At the end of the shooting three men were found suffering from what appeared to be gunshot injuries. All three men were immediately taken to the May Pen Hospital where, unfortunately, they were pronounced dead,” he added.

The police chief said two firearms — a shotgun and a .38 revolver — were seized from the scene.

“[The Independent Commission of Investigations] and other stakeholders have been informed and the investigations have started,” said Duncan.

He said Manchester is not a safe haven for criminals.

“I just want to implore people that Manchester is in fact a cool place, and you are welcome to visit Manchester at any time. However, if you have any criminal intention at all I would suggest that you find somewhere else to go,” said Duncan.

Head of the Manchester police Superintendent Carey Duncan (centre) is flanked by Operations Officer Deputy Superintendent Luhas Daniels (left) and Crime Officer Deputy Superintendent Dennis Simpson during an interview on Monday in St Toolies, Manchester.Photos: Kasey Williams

A woman rolls in the grass while protesting the killing of three men in St Toolies, Manchester, on Monday.

Investigators from the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Independent Commission of Investigations near the scene of the triple fatal shooting in St Toolies on Monday.

Relatives of the three men killed by the police demand answers from senior cops on Monday near the scene in St Toolies, Manchester.

Undated photo of 23-year-old Byron McDonald, otherwise called Gary.